To The Shadows Lingering
by Lunevis
Summary: War AU. Rin Matsuoka is a lieutenant hardened by the unimaginable betrayals of his past. Ruthless and unforgiving, he has only one memory he holds dear—of a blue-eyed boy, of oceans and laughter. However, in the face of battle, Rin must forget everything he ever held dear—and teach young, innocent Aiichiro Nitori to do the same.


_Hello! This is a story that is tied in with two others, To The Oceans Below and To The Skies Above. I had to divide the stories up due to shipping purposes, but there is a little bit of each in every fic. Thank you for reading, please enjoy!_

_I will try to update all of them fairly regularly, or all at the same time._

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Being awakened at the crack of dawn by loud pounding on his door was hardly what Nitori expected, especially considering he had only fallen asleep a few hours ago, exhausted by the strict training regime. Groaning, the grey-haired boy flipped over and pressed his face into the pillow, wishing for just a moment's peace. Just as he drifting off to sleep once again, the pounding resumed, and a grumpy Nitori rolled from his tangled mess of sheets and blankets to wrench open the door, quite unhappy.

"What is—oh." Nitori started to speak, words spilling out half incoherently from his mouth as he glared at a black uniform. When his eyes travelled upwards, he gave a sort of squeak and straightened immediately.

Before him stood Rin Matsuoka, the lieutenant of the _Samezuka Squad. _Second only to the captain, Seijuro Mikoshiba, Rin had an air of authority that their easygoing captain did not possess. Not many that crossed the lieutenant lived to think of their disastrous choice; Rin was cold, emotionless and hard, and did not accept any attack on his being. Nitori was naturally afraid of the man, being the newest member of the squad. An excellent sniper, he had only barely met the qualifications. Seijuro had proposed they set Nitori into training to prepare him for the team's elite missions, and so a strict schedule was drawn, with Rin being his overseer. Already, the man had him running laps nonstop, doing workouts until his muscles felt like they were being lit on fire, pressing him on and him until Nitori felt on the brink of fainting. However, the grey-haired sniper didn't allow himself to complain; mainly because he knew Rin would only snort and rush him onwards, but also since he didn't want to give up. Not many were accepted into this squad, he had to work to show them they had made the right choice choosing him from a crowd of faceless names, all eager young men hoping and willing to die for their country.

"You've had enough rest," Rin stared Aiichiro in the eye, his red gaze unflinching. Respectively, Nitori lowered his eyes. "Let's go. Five laps around the track to start."

Nodding, Nitori did a salute. "Yessir!" He began to head out the door.

To his confusion, Rin gave a sigh and grabbed him by the collar. Letting out a small noise, Nitori stared up at the other, confused.

"You may want to get dressed before you head out," Rin suggested, looking pointedly at Nitori's pyjamas.

The sniper felt his face grow hot as he scrambled back into his door, mumbling about being forgetful and lack of sleep. Rin merely leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed and voice bored. "Hurry."

Nitori scrambled around, picking up his wrinkled black uniform from where he'd thrown it last night, half draped over the wooden chair. Blushing slightly at the already messy state of his new room, Nitori quickly walked to a corner before giving Rin a hesitant look.

The lieutenant stayed where he was, cocking an eyebrow. "We don't have much time. I won't look."

Feeling rather flushed, the grey-haired boy nodded and stripped quickly, pulling his arms into the uniform. Heavy from sleep, he yawned as he straightened up and grabbed his cap from the desk next to the chair, placing it gently on his head and walking towards Rin.

He stifled a yawn. "I'm ready."

Rin gave Nitori's hat a little flick, causing the object to bounce off and float gently onto the wooden floor below. Giving a start of surprise, Nitori gave Rin a look before reaching down and grabbing the cap. Placing it on it's former position, Nitori pushed down the brim.

"Better," Rin assessed. "Follow me."

As the lieutenant began walking down the hall at a marching pace, Nitori barely had time to shut his door as he rushed after the other. As they walked down the halls of their headquarters, the grey-haired one realised that most of the squad was up already, hurrying about. Their captain, Mikoshiba, rested on a couch nearby, an arm slung over his forehead as he groaned. Briefly, Nitori wondered if the redhead was all right, and gave Rin a curious glance.

"He isn't a morning person," the lieutenant replied, not even looking at the widespread figure. "Best to leave him alone until he's had coffee."

At the mention of the drink, Nitori perked up. "Coffee?"

Rin stared at the younger's reaction, surprised. "Yeah, coffee."

The grey-haired male stared back, mouth slightly open. "Coffee?"

"If you repeat that one more time..." Rin sighed. "What's with coffee?"

"You have it?" Nitori fidgeted.

"Everyday, yes." The lieutenant was starting to get rather annoyed.

Nitori gaped, and then realised that he was making a fool of himself in front of Rin. Shaking his head, he flushed, staring shyly up at the taller one. "It's just...the entire country hasn't had coffee since this war started..."

Rin stared back after hearing Nitori's words, then made a noise. A short bark, almost, and it took the grey-haired sniper a while to realise that Rin had _laughed. _

"We're exceptions," the other explained, "since we murder the dangerous, we get higher rewards from the government. Greedy bastards have plenty of coffee and who knows what else up there."

Nitori nodded vigorously, his mind filled with vivid images. He'd never had coffee; the war had started too early and stolen all the resources before his parents deemed him fit to do so, but from his parents' longing and descriptions he'd wanted to try the wonderful liquid so badly. "What does it taste like, lieutenant? Is it good?"

Rin stared at Nitori, as if not quite believing he'd stand here, talking with another member of the deadly _Samezuka Squad_ about _coffee_. "Er, well," the older struggled to explain something he'd never thought he'd had to explain before. "It's bitter..."

Nitori made a face. "Is it good, then?"

"You can add sugar," Rin suggested.

Big blue eyes widened. "What if I add too much?"

"There's cream." Rin rolled his own red eyes.

"But then I wouldn't know how much coffee to pour!" Nitori seemed seriously concerned on this pressing matter. His mouth was turned downwards in a slight frown, a thoughtful look on his face.

Rin just sighed once again, not quite knowing what to make of his new apprentice. "Come on." He brought his hand up, flicking Nitori on the forehead. "We can have coffee after training."

The younger gave a start, looking surprised at the sudden action. He blinked, once, twice, frozen. For a second, Rin paused, thinking he had gone too far or something like that. The lieutenant began walking away, not looking back.

Behind him, Nitori blinked once more as the widest grin spread across his face at the prospect of having the legendary coffee after a hard morning of training. Rushing after his superior, he caught up to Rin's fast stride and walked slightly behind, out of respect for the older. Together, they made their way down the hall, avoiding rushing members here and there. Eventually, when the boring, grey-speckled walls seemed to stretch on forever, Rin pushed open a door and they found themselves on the track, bright red and stretching into the distance. Rin walked over and gestured for Nitori to take position. "This time's the best; there aren't many people about."

As Nitori took off the coat of his uniform and made his way to the starting line, he understood why the building inside was so crowded, yet outside it was basically empty. The early morning air was cold, as suggested by Rin wearing a scarf threaded around his neck. The chill dug into his bones and Nitori felt his teeth chatter as he ran his hands among his bare arms, desperately trying to warm them up.

Rin gave him a look from the corner of his eyes, glaring fierce red. "You'll warm up as you run. Get going." Extracting a small whistle from a hidden pocket, Rin dangled the object close to his lips. "Ready?"

Nitori nodded, eyes focused on the impossible run he had ahead. Rin blew on the whistle and the grey-haired male was off, running against the wind of early morning, feeling the frigid air seize up his bones and rustle his hair. He continued running, with only the prospect of sharing a coffee with his mentor and captain later keeping him going. Argh, he was not going to enjoy training for another few months.

On his third lap, Nitori felt his legs almost give out. He wobbled, hopping a few steps before getting back on the inner layer of the track, hoping to shave off a few seconds of his time. Rin did not like walking; for this session, the pink-haired male had insisted on Nitori running the complete five laps, something the latter thought completely impossible. He soon found that it _was_ impossible—maybe not for people like Rin, but certainly for people like him. Still, he pressed on, his breath coming in shaky gasps. As he passed for his fourth lap, Rin gave him a nod and something that somewhat resembled a small smile, and Nitori pressed onwards, wanting nothing more than to gain the appreciation of his teammate and mentor. Perhaps Rin would throw in a few good words with the captain as well.

He was just one quarter through his fourth lap when the alarm rang.


End file.
